CN116889392A

CN116889392A - Respiration sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN116889392A
Application number: CN202310848640.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨卓青; 任晗; 张浩东
Original assignee: Shanghai Jiaotong University
Current assignee: Shanghai Jiaotong University
Priority date: 2023-07-11
Filing date: 2023-07-11
Publication date: 2023-10-17

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of respiratory sensors, and provides a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow and a manufacturing method thereof. The respiration sensor includes a flexible substrate comprising: a first component, the second surface of which is configured to be attached to the upper part of the upper lip, so that the nasal respiratory resistance wire is arranged at the air outlet of the nostril to monitor the nasal respiratory airflow; and a second part having a first end connected to the first part, wherein the second part is configured to be rounded toward the lips and to conform a second end opposite the first end to the chin such that the mouth breathing resistance wire is disposed between the upper lip and the lower lip to monitor mouth breathing gas flow. The application can realize the high-precision continuous real-time mouth and nose respiration monitoring function, can be connected with an external circuit to collect and process signals, and is fed back to a user in a Bluetooth mode and the like, thereby realizing long-term scientific respiration health management.

Description

Respiration sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to the field of breath sensors. In particular, the present application relates to a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow and a method of manufacturing the same.

Background

Respiration is an important component of human vital signs, and changes of human health conditions can be reflected through monitoring human respiration, so that diagnosis and prevention of respiratory diseases such as obstructive apnea syndrome, asthma, tracheitis and the like can be further performed. The abnormal breathing during sleeping can have a plurality of adverse effects on the health of human bodies, for example, the sleeping mouth breathing can cause maxillofacial deformity of human bodies, and the obstructive apnea syndrome can cause insufficient oxygen supply, so that the viscera functions of the human bodies are damaged.

Conventionally, sleep respiration is monitored through polysomnography, and the polysomnography instrument can record the oral-nasal airflow and the blood oxygen saturation of a tested person during sleeping, and judge the sleeping condition of a monitored object through complex data processing and analysis according to a plurality of indexes such as an electrocardiogram, an electroencephalogram, a chest type and an abdominal type respiratory tension map. However, polysomnography equipment has the problems of large volume, high cost, complex operation, inconvenient maintenance and household use. The existing respiration sensor has the problems of low sensitivity and poor flexibility.

Chinese patent "CN113397483B" discloses a flexible respiration sensor and a method for manufacturing the same, the flexible respiration sensor includes a sensing component, a switching device and a flexible circuit board, wherein the sensing component stretches into the nasal cavity to detect respiration signals, and the sensing component can be connected with the flexible circuit board and attached to the skin under the nose. However, the flexible respiratory sensor in this patent has difficulty monitoring nasal breathing and oral breathing simultaneously.

Disclosure of Invention

To at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present application proposes a respiration sensor for monitoring the flow of an oronasal gas, comprising:

a flexible substrate, comprising:

a first part with a second surface configured to be attached to the upper part of the upper lip for nasal breathing

The resistance wire is arranged at the air outlet of the nostril to monitor the nasal respiratory airflow; and

a second part having a first end connected to the first part, wherein the second part is configured to be arc-shaped toward the lips, and a second end opposite to the first end is fitted to the chin such that an oral breathing resistance wire is disposed between the upper lip and the lower lip to monitor oral breathing gas flow;

a nasal respiratory resistance wire disposed on a first face of the first component; and

a mouth breathing resistance wire disposed on the second face of the second component.

In the present application, the term "second side" refers to the side of the flexible substrate opposite the "first side".

In one embodiment of the application, the flexible substrate comprises a polyimide flexible substrate, a polyvinyl alcohol flexible substrate, a polyester flexible substrate, or a polyethylene naphthalate flexible substrate.

In one embodiment of the application, it is provided that the first part is connected vertically in a T-shape to the second part.

In one embodiment of the application, the flexible substrate has a thickness of 1um to 100um; and/or

The length of the first part is 10mm-100mm, and the width is 2mm-10mm; and/or

The length of the second part is 2mm-10mm, and the width is 10mm-100mm.

In one embodiment of the application, it is provided that the material of the nasal respiratory resistance wire and/or the oral respiratory resistance wire is a metal with a thermal resistance effect, wherein the metal with a thermal resistance effect comprises gold Au, platinum Pt, chrome-gold alloy Cr/Au, titanium-gold alloy Ti/Au, chrome-platinum alloy Cr/Pt and titanium-platinum alloy Ti/Pt.

In one embodiment of the application, it is provided that the nasal respiratory resistance wire comprises:

a first folded resistance wire disposed on a first side of the nasal respiratory resistance wire, wherein the first folded resistance wire comprises a plurality of folded structures;

a second folded resistive wire disposed on a second side of the nasal respiratory resistive wire opposite the first side, the second folded resistive wire being symmetrical in configuration to the first folded resistive wire, wherein the first and second folded resistive wires are configured to monitor nasal respiratory airflow of two nostrils, respectively;

a nasal breathing wire resistance wire connecting the first folded resistance wire with the second folded resistance wire;

the first external lead is connected with the first folding resistance wire through the nasal breathing wire resistance wire; and

and a second external lead connected to the second folded resistance wire through the nasal breathing wire resistance wire, wherein the first and second external leads are configured to be connected to an external circuit.

In one embodiment of the present application, it is provided that the thickness of the first folded resistance wire and/or the second folded resistance wire is 10nm-500nm, the line width is 50um-500um, the interval between the folded structures is 50um-500um, and the number of the folded structures is 5-20; and/or

The thickness of the nose breathing wire resistance wire is 10nm-500nm, and the line width is 100um-800um; and/or

The length of the electrode of the first external lead and/or the second external lead is 1mm-5mm, the width is 1mm-10mm, and the thickness is 10nm-500nm.

In one embodiment of the application, it is provided that the mouth breathing resistance wire comprises:

a third folded resistance wire comprising a plurality of folded structures, wherein the third folded resistance wire is configured to monitor oral respiratory airflow;

a mouth breathing wire resistance wire connecting the third folded resistance wire with a third external lead and a fourth external lead;

a third external lead; and

and a fourth external lead, wherein the third and fourth external leads are configured to be connected to an external circuit.

In one embodiment of the present application, the thickness of the third folded resistance wire is 10nm-500nm, the line width is 100um-800um, the interval between the folded structures is 100um-800um, and the number of the folded structures is 10-50; and/or

The line width of the resistance wire of the mouth breathing wire is 200um-800u; and/or

The length of the electrode of the third external lead and/or the fourth external lead is 1mm-5mm, the width is 1mm-10mm, and the thickness is 10nm-500nm.

In one embodiment of the application, it is provided that the nasal and/or oral respiratory resistance wire is configured to increase in surface temperature, increase in resistance, decrease in surface temperature, decrease in resistance upon exhalation, wherein the nasal and/or oral respiratory resistance wire monitors respiratory rate, depth of respiration, and respiratory anomalies by monitoring resistance changes.

The application also proposes a method for manufacturing a respiratory sensor for monitoring an oral-nasal airflow, comprising the steps of:

spin-coating a flexible substrate solution on a glass substrate, and curing the flexible substrate solution to form a flexible substrate;

spin-coating photoresist on a first surface of the flexible substrate, and generating a pattern of nasal respiratory resistance wires by photoetching;

sputtering on the pattern of the nasal respiratory resistance wire to form a nasal respiratory resistance wire, and stripping off redundant photoresist;

removing the flexible substrate from the glass substrate and rearranging the second side of the flexible substrate on the glass substrate with the second side facing upwards;

spin-coating photoresist on a second surface of the flexible substrate, and photo-etching to generate a pattern of mouth breathing resistance wires;

sputtering on the pattern of the mouth breathing resistance wire to form a mouth breathing resistance wire, and stripping redundant photoresist; and

the flexible substrate is removed from the glass substrate and cut to form a respiration sensor.

The application has at least the following beneficial effects: the application provides a respiration sensor for monitoring the flow of the mouth and nose, which can realize the high-precision continuous real-time mouth and nose respiration monitoring function, can be connected with an external circuit for signal collection and processing, and is fed back to a user in a Bluetooth mode and the like to realize long-term scientific respiration health management. The breath sensor is manufactured on the flexible substrate, has certain bending resistance and pulling resistance, can be well attached to the face of a human body, has good compatibility with the skin of the human body, and cannot cause discomfort and adverse effect. The breath sensor can collect and analyze mouth breath signals and nose breath signals at any time, and the existing breath sensor only focuses on the collection of nose breath signals, but the application can provide signal data with more dimensions, and is more accurate and reliable than a single-channel breath sensor in the initial diagnosis of certain diseases such as sleeping mouth breath and apnea syndrome. In addition, the breath sensor can be processed by using MEMS micro-nano processing technology (including micro-nano methods such as magnetron sputtering and photoetching) and can be processed and manufactured on one wafer, so that large-scale batch processing and manufacturing can be realized.

Drawings

To further clarify the advantages and features present in various embodiments of the present application, a more particular description of various embodiments of the present application will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the application and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. In the drawings, for clarity, the same or corresponding parts will be designated by the same or similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow in accordance with one embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow in one embodiment of the application.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a nasal respiratory resistance wire in one embodiment of the present application.

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of a first folded resistance wire in an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of an oral breathing resistance wire in one embodiment of the application.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a third folded resistance wire in an embodiment of the application.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic workflow diagram of a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow in one embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description

It should be noted that the components in the figures may be shown exaggerated for illustrative purposes and are not necessarily to scale. In the drawings, identical or functionally identical components are provided with the same reference numerals.

In the present application, unless specifically indicated otherwise, "disposed on …", "disposed over …" and "disposed over …" do not preclude the presence of an intermediate therebetween. Furthermore, "disposed on or above" … merely indicates the relative positional relationship between the two components, but may also be converted to "disposed under or below" …, and vice versa, under certain circumstances, such as after reversing the product direction.

In the present application, the embodiments are merely intended to illustrate the scheme of the present application, and should not be construed as limiting.

In the present application, the adjectives "a" and "an" do not exclude a scenario of a plurality of elements, unless specifically indicated.

It should also be noted herein that in embodiments of the present application, only a portion of the components or assemblies may be shown for clarity and simplicity, but those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the components or assemblies may be added as needed for a particular scenario under the teachings of the present application. In addition, features of different embodiments of the application may be combined with each other, unless otherwise specified. For example, a feature of the second embodiment may be substituted for a corresponding feature of the first embodiment, or may have the same or similar function, and the resulting embodiment may fall within the scope of disclosure or description of the application.

It should also be noted herein that, within the scope of the present application, the terms "identical", "equal" and the like do not mean that the two values are absolutely equal, but rather allow for some reasonable error, that is, the terms also encompass "substantially identical", "substantially equal". By analogy, in the present application, the term "perpendicular", "parallel" and the like in the table direction also covers the meaning of "substantially perpendicular", "substantially parallel".

The numbers of the steps of the respective methods of the present application are not limited to the order of execution of the steps of the methods. The method steps may be performed in a different order unless otherwise indicated.

The application is further elucidated below in connection with the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow in accordance with one embodiment of the present application. FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow in one embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the respiration sensor can include a flexible substrate 101, a nasal respiration resistance wire 102, and an oral respiration resistance wire 103. The flexible substrate 101 may be a polyimide flexible substrate or other similar flexible substrate, the nasal respiratory resistance wire 102 being disposed on a first side of the flexible substrate 101 and the oral respiratory resistance wire 103 being disposed on a second side of the flexible substrate 101.

The flexible substrate 101 may include a first member 1011 and a second member 1012, and the first member 1011 and the second member 1012 may be vertically connected in a T-shape. The thickness of the flexible substrate 101 may be 1um to 100um; the first member 1011 may have a length of 10mm to 100mm and a width of 2mm to 10mm; and the second component 1012 may have a length of 2mm to 10mm and a width of 10mm to 100mm.

The nasal respiratory resistance wire 102 may be disposed on a first face of the first member 1011. The material of the nasal respiratory resistance wire 102 may be a metal having a thermal resistance effect, for example, au or Pt.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a nasal respiratory resistance wire in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the nasal respiratory resistance wire 102 may include a first folded resistance wire 301, a second folded resistance wire 302, a nasal respiratory lead resistance wire 303, a first external lead 304, and a second external lead 305.

The first folded resistance wire 301 is symmetrical to the structure of the second folded resistance wire 302, wherein the first folded resistance wire 301 and the second folded resistance wire 302 are arranged on a first side and a second side opposite to the first side of the nasal respiratory resistance wire 102, respectively. The nasal respiratory lead wire resistor wire 303 connects the first folded resistor wire 301 with the second folded resistor wire 302, the first external lead wire 304 with the first folded resistor wire 301, and the second external lead wire 305 with the second folded resistor wire 302.

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of a first folded resistance wire in an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 4, the thickness of the first folded resistance wire 301 may be 10nm-500nm, the line width may be 50um-500um, the folding pitch may be 50um-500um, and the number of folds may be 5-20. It is easy to understand that the second folded resistance wire 302 may have a structure similar to that of the first folded resistance wire 301. Returning to fig. 3, the thickness of the nasal breathing wire resistor wire 303 may be 10nm-500nm, and the line width may be 100um-800um; the length of the electrode of the first external lead 304 and/or the second external lead 305 is 1mm-5mm, the width is 1mm-10mm, and the thickness is 10nm-500nm.

The mouth breathing resistance wire 103 is arranged on the second face of the second part 1012. The material of the mouth breathing resistance wire 103 may be a metal having a heat resistance effect, for example, au or Pt, or the like.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of an oral breathing resistance wire in one embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 5, the mouth breathing resistance wire 103 may include a third folded resistance wire 501, a mouth breathing wire resistance wire 502, a third external lead 503, and a fourth external lead 504, wherein the mouth breathing wire resistance wire 502 connects the third folded resistance wire 501 with the third external lead 503 and the fourth external lead 504.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a third folded resistance wire in an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 6, the thickness of the third folded resistance wire 501 may be 10nm-500nm, the line width may be 100um-800um, the folding interval may be 100um-800um, and the number of folds may be 10-50. Returning to fig. 5, the line width of the mouth breathing wire resistor 502 may be 200um to 800um, the length of the electrode of the third external lead 503 and/or the fourth external lead 504 may be 1mm to 5mm, the width may be 1mm to 10mm, and the thickness may be 10nm to 500nm.

The breath sensor may be constructed using micro-nano machining process MEMS, including: polyimide or the like is spin-coated on a clean glass sheet as a solution for a thin film substrate, and after the solution is cured and molded, a photoresist is spin-coated on the surface of the solution. And exposing and developing by using a customized nasal breathing resistance wire mask plate through a photoetching technology to form a preset resistance pattern shape. Sputtering a layer of thermal resistance material (such as metal Au) on the material by using a magnetron sputtering technology to serve as a sensitive material of the respiration sensor; the photoresist in the non-exposed portions was removed using a lift-off process, thus completing the preparation of the nasal respiratory resistance wire. After the film substrate was peeled off from the glass sheet, it was attached again to the glass sheet with its reverse side facing upward and was flattened. And continuously spin-coating a layer of photoresist on the surface of the mask, exposing and developing by using a customized mask plate of the mouth breathing resistance wire to form a preset pattern, sputtering a layer of thermal resistance material on the mask plate by using a magnetron sputtering technology, and removing the photoresist by using a stripping process, so that the preparation of the mouth breathing resistance wire is completed. Finally, the film substrate is taken down from the glass sheet, then cut and separated according to the required size, and the electrodes of the nasal respiratory resistance wire and the oral respiratory resistance wire are connected with an external circuit by using a wire.

During use of the respiratory sensor, the second face of the first member 1011 may be attached to the upper lip, and the first folded resistance wire 301 and the second folded resistance wire 302 may be disposed at two air outlet holes of nasal breathing. The second member 1012 is in a bent state, a first end of the second member 1012 is connected to the first member 1011, and a second end opposite to the first end is fixed at the chin such that the third folded resistance wire 501 is arranged between the upper and lower lips. The flexible substrate 101 has excellent flexibility, bending resistance and biocompatibility, so that discomfort is not caused when the flexible substrate 101 is attached to human skin, and the flexible substrate 101 can be made of polyimide, polyvinyl alcohol, polyester, polyethylene naphthalate and other flexible materials. The material of the nasal respiratory resistance wire 102 and the oral respiratory resistance wire 103 may be resistance wires having a thermal resistance effect, and may be Cr/Au, ti/Au, cr/Pt, ti/Pt, or the like, in addition to metal Au, metal Pt. In addition, the pattern of the nasal respiratory resistance wire 102 and the oral respiratory resistance wire 103 may be other shapes having a larger specific surface area, in addition to the folded shape in the above-described embodiment.

The respiration sensor detects respiration based on the characteristic that the resistance of the folding resistance wire changes with temperature, and when the respiration sensor exhales, the surface temperature of the folding resistance wire rises, and the resistance rises; when inhaling, the surface temperature of the folded resistance wire is reduced, and the resistance is reduced. By detecting the resistance change based on the respiration sensor, the respiration rate, the respiration depth and various abnormal respiration conditions (such as asthma, apnea, oral respiration and the like) can be monitored with high efficiency and sensitivity.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic workflow diagram of a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow in one embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 7, the respiration sensor can record the time and degree of sleep mouth respiration or apnea of the wearer during sleep, and provides reliable basis for clinical diagnosis. And when abnormal breathing conditions such as asthma occur in daily life, the abnormal breathing conditions can be sent in real time through Bluetooth and other modes to remind the wearer of potential danger.

While various embodiments of the present application have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various combinations, modifications, and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present application as disclosed herein should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A respiratory sensor for monitoring oral nasal airflow, comprising:

a flexible substrate, comprising:

a first component, the second surface of which is configured to be attached to the upper part of the upper lip, so that the nasal respiratory resistance wire is arranged at the air outlet of the nostril to monitor the nasal respiratory airflow; and

2. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral nasal airflow of claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate comprises a polyimide flexible substrate, a polyvinyl alcohol flexible substrate, a polyester flexible substrate, or a polyethylene naphthalate flexible substrate.

3. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral nasal airflow of claim 1, wherein the first component is connected perpendicular to the second component in a T-shape.

4. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral nasal airflow of claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate has a thickness of 1um-100um; and/or

The length of the first part is 10mm-100mm, and the width is 2mm-10mm; and/or

The length of the second part is 2mm-10mm, and the width is 10mm-100mm.

5. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow according to claim 1, wherein the material of the nasal respiratory resistance wire and/or the oral respiratory resistance wire is a metal with a thermal resistance effect, the metal with a thermal resistance effect including gold Au, platinum Pt, chrome gold alloy Cr/Au, titanium gold alloy Ti/Au, chrome platinum alloy Cr/Pt, and titanium platinum alloy Ti/Pt.

6. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral nasal airflow of claim 1, wherein the nasal respiratory resistance wire comprises:

7. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow according to claim 6, wherein the thickness of the first and/or the second folded resistance wire is 10nm-500nm, the line width is 50um-500um, the interval between the folded structures is 50um-500um, and the number of the folded structures is 5-20; and/or

8. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral nasal airflow of claim 1, wherein the oral respiratory resistance wire comprises:

a third external lead; and

9. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow according to claim 8, wherein the third folded resistance wire has a thickness of 10nm-500nm, a line width of 100um-800um, a spacing between folded structures of 100um-800um, and a number of folded structures of 10-50; and/or

10. The respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow according to claim 1, wherein the nasal and/or oral respiratory resistance wire is configured to increase in surface temperature and increase in electrical resistance during exhalation and decrease in surface temperature and decrease in electrical resistance during inhalation, wherein the nasal and/or oral respiratory resistance wire monitors respiratory rate, depth of respiration, and respiratory abnormalities by monitoring changes in electrical resistance.

11. A method of manufacturing a respiratory sensor for monitoring oral-nasal airflow, comprising the steps of: